Israel defends Gaza hospital strike after German criticism

Israel early on Monday criticized the German Foreign Office for a social media post questioning the Israeli military's recent airstrike on a hospital building in northern Gaza, saying the statement lacked key facts.

In a post on X, Israel's Foreign Ministry said the attack was a "precise strike" on a single building used by Palestinian militant group Hamas as a command and control centre, and not a general assault on hospital grounds.

It responded to a post shared Sunday by Germany's Foreign Office and outgoing Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, which said: "The cruel Hamas terror must be fought. But international humanitarian law applies — with a special obligation to protect civilian sites. How is a hospital supposed to be evacuated in under 20 minutes?"

Israel's Foreign Ministry pushed back, saying it expected "a clear and strong condemnation of Hamas's use of hospitals" and "not rhetoric that encourages Hamas's continued abuse of civilian infrastructure."

The ministry added that the German statement lacked "important facts," including that the Israeli military had issued a prior warning and that no civilians were killed in the strike.

The World Health Organization (WHO), however, said the hospital sustained serious damage. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X that, according to the hospital director, a child died after being unable to receive care during the evacuation.

Witnesses told dpa that hospital staff had been instructed to evacuate before the strike, with the Palestinian news agency WAFA reporting that they were given just 18 minutes to do so.